Patience is a virtue, but is it also a pain in the arse? As a kid, my family went on a long driving holiday across Australia from East coast to West. Mum and Dad in the front, five kids in the back of a 4WD. Driving 10 hours a day for a week across the desert. It sounds like the recipe for an “Are we there yet?” nightmare. But we had a ball. With all the innate creativity of children we filled those hours and days with endless, timeless play. And to this day, my memories of that trip are rooted in that voyage across the desert. Memories of the destination are there, but blend seamlessly with the entire journey. The way we engaged with that trip is how I try to think of patience. Re-branding Patience Patience, like all virtues, commonly has an image problem. Being patient is like eating brussels sprouts – we only do it because our mothers told us it’s good for us. Cultivating patience isn’t on the cover of magazines. It’s not what we look for on our holidays. Patience, like all virtues (and brussels sprouts) needs a re-brand. Because notice how in anything you really love – cooking, eating, sewing, sailing, bushwalking, playing golf, spending quality time with loved ones…whatever – there is absolutely no desire to rush. The joy itself is in the process. In being patient. All our joy arises within patience. Joy is the very fabric of patience, not some downstream consequence of it. And this is the beauty of all the timeless, noble qualities. They are rooted in the realisation that the joy we seek is not off in the distance, across a wasteland. The satisfaction we long for is calling us to be deeply engaged, at our most creative, playful best, right now. And qualities like patience are the essence of this engagement. They are the holiday – and the homecoming - we are looking for.